Word forms: 3rd person singular presenttense neuters, present participle neutering, past tense, past participle neutered
1. verb [usually passive]
When an animal is neutered, its reproductive organs are removed so that it cannot create babies.
We ask the public to have their dogs neutered and keep them under close supervision. [have noun VERB-ed]
2. verb
To neuter an organization, group, or person means to make them powerless and ineffective.
[mainly British, journalism]
...the Government's 'hidden agenda' to neuter local authorities. [VERB noun]
Their air force had been neutered before the work began. [beVERB-ed]
3. adjective
In some languages, a neuter noun, pronoun, or adjective has a different form from a masculine or feminine one, or behaves in a different way.
Synonyms: sexless, androgynous, asexual, hermaphrodite More Synonyms of neuter
More Synonyms of neuter
English Easy Learning GrammarGender of nounsIn some languages, nouns have gender. This means that a noun causes other words suchas adjectives to change their spelling according to certain rules. ... Read more
neuter in British English
(ˈnjuːtə)
adjective
1. grammar
a.
denoting or belonging to a gender of nouns which for the most part have inanimate referents or do not specify the sex of their referents
b.
(as noun)
German "Mädchen" (meaning "girl'") is a neuter
2.
(of animals and plants) having nonfunctional, underdeveloped, or absent reproductive organs
3.
(of a person) asexual or genderless
4.
giving no indication of sex or gender
a neuter sort of name
noun
5.
an asexual or genderless person
6.
a sexually underdeveloped female insect, such as a worker bee
7.
a castrated animal, esp a domestic animal
8.
a flower in which the stamens and pistil are absent or nonfunctional
verb
9. (transitive)
to castrate or spay (an animal)
Word origin
C14: from Latin, from ne not + uter either (of two)
neuter in American English
(ˈnutər; ˈnjutər)
adjective
1. Archaic
taking neither side; neutral
2. Biology
a.
having no sexual organ; asexual
b.
having undeveloped or imperfect sexual organs in the adult, as the worker bee
3. Grammar
a.
designating, of, or belonging to a third gender, existing in many highly inflected languages, consisting of words that have neither masculine nor feminine grammatical gender
b.
neither active nor passive; intransitive
said of verbs
noun
4.
a castrated or spayed animal
5. Archaic
a neutral person or group
6. Biology
a plant or animal lacking, or having undeveloped, sexual organs
7. Grammar
a.
the neuter gender
b.
a word or form in this gender
c.
an intransitive verb
verb transitive
8.
to castrate or spay (an animal)
Word origin
ME neutre < MFr or L: MFr neutre < L neuter, neither < ne-, not (see no1) + uter, either
Synonyms of 'neuter'
castrate, doctor, emasculate, spay
sexless, androgynous, asexual, hermaphrodite
More Synonyms of neuter
Chinese translation of 'neuter'
neuter
(ˈnjuːtəʳ)
vt
[male]阉(閹)割 (yāngē)
[female]骟(騸) (shàn)
adj
(Ling) 中性的 (zhōngxìng de)
Nearby words of
neuter
nettle
network
neurotic
neuter
neutral
never
never again!
(verb)
Definition
to castrate (an animal)
Responsible cat owners should have their pets neutered.
Synonyms
castrate
He spent summers on a ranch where he repaired windmills and castrated bulls.
doctor (informal)
emasculate
spay
dress
fix (informal)
geld
Most male horses are gelded.
(adjective)
Definition
(of animals and plants) sexually underdeveloped
I consider myself neuter, neither masculine nor feminine.
Synonyms
sexless
The research team has made a mistake by keeping the robots sexless.
androgynous
She's always attracted to men with an androgynous quality.
asexual
asexual parasites
hermaphrodite
nonsexual
epicene
Additional synonyms
in the sense of androgynous
Definition
having both male and female characteristics
She's always attracted to men with an androgynous quality.